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As You Like It Teacher Pack 2013

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As You Like It Teacher Pack 2013 AS YO U LIKE IT BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE E D U C A T I O N A C T I V I T I E S P A C K ABOUT THIS PACK This pack supports the RSC’s 2013 production of As You Like It, directed by Maria Aberg, which opened on April 12th at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon and runs until September 28th. This pack has been written for use with Key Stage 3 to 5 Drama, Theatre Studies and English students, but many of the activities can be adapted for younger age groups. The activities aim to help students explore some important features of the text and production, using the RSC’s rehearsal processes. The pack contains: Background information about the original staging of the play Introductory information about the creation of the current production Practical activities inspired by the current production ABOUT OUR EDUCATION WORK We want children and young people to enjoy the challenge of Shakespeare and achieve more as a result of connecting with his work. Central to our education work is our manifesto for Shakespeare in schools, Stand up for Shakespeare. We know that children and young people can experience Shakespeare in ways that excite, engage and inspire them. We believe that young people get the most out of Shakespeare when they: ■ Do Shakespeare on their feet - exploring the plays actively as actors do ■ See it Live - participate as members of a live audience ■ Start it Earlier - work on the plays from a younger age We also believe in the power of ensemble - a way of working together in both the rehearsal room and across the company enabling everyone’s ideas and voices to be heard. Director Maria Aberg created a rehearsal space where all the actors were encouraged to improvise, experiment with movement, and play with the text until the whole company were immersed in the worlds of As You Like It. Registered charity no. 212481 © Royal Shakespeare Company Page 1 CONTENTS Introduction & About our Education work Page 1 These symbols are used throughout the pack: Background Page 3 READ Notes from the production, Creating the Worlds of the Play Page 4 background info or extracts The Court and the Forest Page 5 ACTIVITY Creating Characters Page 6 A classroom or open space activity Using Movement Page 9 WRITE Playing a woman playing a man Page 10 A writing activity Resource Materials Page 11 LINKS Useful web addresses The cast of As You Like It. Photo by Keith Pattison. Registered charity no. 212481 © Royal Shakespeare Company Page 2 BACKGROUND POLITICAL BACKGROUND As You Like It was written in 1599, the same year in which Shakespeare wrote Henry V and began writing Hamlet. The first Globe Theatre was also built in this year. 1599 was a tense and unstable political time for England. In the Protestant court of Elizabeth I the puritans were becoming increasingly powerful. The puritans wanted to close the public theatres and Elizabeth’s enthusiasm for drama was critical to the survival of Shakespeare’s company among others. Elizabeth herself was growing old but had not yet named an heir. England was constantly under the threat of invasion. In 1599 Queen Elizabeth sent an army to crush a rebellion in Ireland and the English successfully defeated an attack by the Spanish Armada. Had the Spanish been successful, England would have become a Catholic country. Country people, by contrast, were unconcerned with the politics of religion and had a more relaxed attitude toward defining their faith. A variety of faith systems, including pagan ones, could be found among country dwellers. In this context it is possible to interpret the court of Duke Ferdinand in As You Like It as reflecting the more rigid and stringent practices of the English court. By contrast, the inhabitants of the Forest of Arden mirror the diversified and more liberal spirit of English country life. For more information about the events of this important year, see James Shapiro’s 1599. SYNOPSIS AND STAGING The first production of As You Like It would have been performed at the Globe Theatre in Southwark in 1599. Rosalind, one of Shakespeare’s greatest female roles, would have been played by a young male apprentice: no women were allowed to perform onstage in Shakespeare’s time. Rosalind, therefore, was played by a boy pretending to be a woman who was pretending to be a man. For a full synopsis of the play and further information about original staging practice please visit: http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/as-you-like-it/synopsis.aspx http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/as-you-like-it/history-of-the-play.aspx Registered charity no. 212481 © Royal Shakespeare Company Page 3 TWO WORLDS: THE COURT & THE FOREST ‘The Court and the Forest in many ways are each other’s opposites. I guess it was finding two worlds that felt really far apart, that both felt contemporary and that captured the essence of the play in different ways.’ – MARIA ABERG, DIRECTOR ACTIVITY 1: CREATING THE WORLDS OF THE PLAY Look at the images of the court and the forest of Arden, taken from Maria Aberg’s 2013 production. Ask students to decide on what atmosphere they think designer Naomi Dawson and Director Maria Aberg wanted to create in each of these two places. Specifically ask them to focus on: o Differences in the use of space o Differences in colour and textures o Differences in costume and dress What does this tell them about the world of the court and the world of the forest? As You Like It. Photos by Keith Pattison. Registered charity no. 212481 © Royal Shakespeare Company Page 4 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COURT AND FOREST ‘You have to perform your gender in the court. There are rigid rules on how you are allowed to behave.’ MARIA ABERG ‘The wildness of the forest was important, as was the potential to be physically freer in the natural world. And, by contrast, Maria spoke about the court as being cold and lacking in sensuality.’ AYSE TASHKIRAN, MOVEMENT DIRECTOR The movement from the court to the Forest of Arden in As You Like It represents the opportunity the characters have for change. The new setting opens up a world of fewer restrictions, in which Rosalind can play Ganymede and all the characters can express themselves. Whereas, in the court the only form of self-expression seems to be the wrestling that Duke Frederick enjoys. The Director’s talk audio offers more insight into Maria Aberg’s thought processes: http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats- on/as-you-like-it/audio-directors- talk.aspx Mark Holgate as Charles the Wrestler and Alex Waldmann as Orlando. Photo by Keith Pattison. ACTIVITY 2: DESIGNING THE TWO WORLDS Set students the challenge of creating their own ‘opposite’ worlds to reflect the different attitudes and events of the forest and the court in the play. Students should prepare a drawing of their set design for the court which responds to the following questions: o What era or historical period will you be setting your production in? o What five words best describe the spirit of your court? o How will your set, costumes and lighting reflect this spirit? o What reference materials (books, films, music, art etc) might help create this world? o How will the characters living in this world move and behave? Then, encourage students to do the same for their contrasting world of the forest: o What five words best describe your forest? o What kind of music best suits this world? o What objects, natural and man-made, create the structure of your set? o What colours and textures dominate in your forest? o How do people in this world move and behave? o How is your forest world different from the world of the court? Why do you think Shakespeare creates such different worlds? What does this enable him to do with the text? Corin even says “those that are good manners at the court are as ridiculous in the country as the behaviour of the country is most mockable at the court” about the difference in behaviour. Where are you more true to yourself? Registered charity no. 212481 © Royal Shakespeare Company Page 5 ACTIVITY 3: CREATING CHARACTERS The practical sequence below introduces students to some of the major characters in the play. It also highlights the Court/Forest opposition in the play. . Organise the room so the whole group are stood in a circle and can see one another. o Go round the circle and ask students to introduce themselves by name, imagining that a spotlight is on them as they announce themselves. o Within the circle, ask each student to turn to the person beside them and tell them a fact about themselves. o Taking turns, each pair should then use that fact to ‘sculpt’ their partner into a statue. o Go round the circle, with each person introducing their partner as the statue, along with the fact to the rest of the group. o Ask each pair to then take a name of a character from As You Like It from a hat (the names and other information for this activity are on the ‘Creating the Characters’ sheets in the Resource materials) o Using the facts that come with the character name, ask each person to turn their partner into a statue of that character, and then swap so that both partners get to sculpt. o Students should then both learn their character’s line, so that they can deliver it while showing their statue.
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